Boys Will be Boys
by Beatrice Gold
Summary: The Curtis brothers aren't living the dream. They don't own a ferrari. They don't live in a mansion. But they do have one thing- love. One-shots about the Curtis brothers growing up.
1. Big Brother

**A/N Hi! So, this is actually my first Outsiders fanfiction, and I'm so grateful you're giving this a try! These one-shots have all been planned out over the last two months, so updates will hopefully be regular. In case you're interested, they will all go up to ****when Darry is 19, Soda is 16, and Ponyboy is 13. Again, thanks for reading, and don't forget to review! :) **

Chapter One

* * *

Darry- 4

Sodapop- A few minutes old

* * *

Darry was bored. Ms. Rapstead buried her face in a house renting magazine as he stared at a hairy mole on her nose. She had started coming to his house ever since his mother got pregnant. Or, as Darry liked to put it, ever since she swallowed a basketball. The woman peered down at him behind her glasses.

"What are you looking at?"

Darry shrugged. Mrs. Rapstead huffed and tugged at her tight skirt, muttering about immature children. Darry wished he knew where his mother had gone, and his father too. All of a sudden she had started yelling something about a baby, and Mr. Curtis had driven them all here. That was all he remembered.

Darry wrinkled his nose. The whole place smelled of nasty medicine. A few minutes passed, and he started watching the people to kill time. A tall man and a brown-haired girl complained about stomach pains. A woman that looked like his mother -basketball and all- and her husband were rushed down the hall. This was incredibly boring. Darry stared at the floor. It was so shiny. So white. So… _slideable. _The young boy grinned as an idea formed in his head. As Mrs. Rapstead began to snore, Darry pulled off his shoes and slipped them under the plastic chair. He padded past some nurses huddled over the front desk and some more pushing carts. Then, he started sliding. This felt wonderful. Nurses shouted and stepped out of the way. _Now _someone was paying attention to him! Darry felt an extra charge of energy, filling every limb of his body until he could burst-

"Oof!" Darry ran into something large and firm. "Sorry," he mumbled, and looked up. His face turned red. It was his father, who couldn't help but chuckle.

"Well, son, were you having fun?" he asked.

"Yeah, sorry," Darry admitted. "I was really bored, and-"

"It's all right. Come with me, Darry. There's someone I'd like you to meet," Mr. Curtis returned gently. Darry gulped. Was this about the baby his parents were always talking about? His father led him into a big room with lots of machines and a big, metal framed bed. There was his mother! He scurried over to her excitedly, but when he reached her side, he noticed she was holding a blue blanket with something inside. What on earth was it?

"That must be the baby," Darry concluded, earning laughter from the others in the room.

"That's right, Darry," Mrs. Curtis softly. "This is your baby brother, Sodapop."

"Sodapop?!" Darry exclaimed as surprise rippled across his face, but soon it turned to interest as he added, "That's a cool name!" He was beginning to like this baby already.

"Would you like to hold your new brother, Darry?" his mother asked. Darry nodded, and Mr. Curtis helped him hold Soda, showing him how to properly support his head. Darry was surprised at how little the baby weighed, and how dark his blue eyes were- the doctor explained they were eventually going to turn brown as he left babyhood- and how wiggly he was. Sodapop lifted his arms and waved them about, as if grasping something magical and unseen. _I've got a brother now, _Darry thought in awe. He traced the baby's cheek with his finger. And then, as if by magic, the corners of Soda's mouth lifted up ever so slightly, as if he were trying to smile.

**A/N Sorry for such a short chapter! The next one's longer. Thanks for reading! :)**


	2. Panic

Chapter Two

* * *

Darry- 7

Sodapop- 3

Ponyboy- 1 year

* * *

Seven-year-old Darry Curtis shuffled behind his parents as they exited the car. Beside him, Sodapop scurried quickly to keep up with his longer legs.

"Can you believe it? Pony's gonna come with us to eat!" Soda exclaimed excitedly. Darry shook his head.

"No, I can't." It hadn't been his idea to go to the downtown restaurant with Ponyboy. He was a baby, after all! So what if he was starting to walk? That didn't mean he was old enough to actually sit down at a restaurant! Usually his parents got a babysitter, but what with all the separation anxiety Pony was having, they'd decided to just let him come.

Soda was evidently bored of Darry's brooding, so he ran to catch up with little Ponyboy, who was clutching his mother's hand tightly and taking very small, careful steps on his tiptoes. Mr. Curtis held the door open for his family, and placed a hand on Darry's shoulder, a gentle but firm gesture to have a less hostile attitude.

"Good evening, table for five?" A waitress with a huge grin asked, putting aside her menu-stacking to grin even wider at Soda tickling Ponyboy mercilessly.

"And a high chair for the young one, please," Mr. Curtis added.

"Okay. Please follow me." The seeemingly-elated waitress lead them to a daintily set up table with candles in the center and every color flower imaginable in a tiny glass vase. The Curtis' couldn't afford an incredibly fancy restaurant, but the nice candle-lit and soft music-strumming ambiance was quite enough for Mrs. Curtis.

"This is lovely," she breathed. "I'm so glad we brought Pony." As if in agreement, her youngest son cooed softly from the high chair her husband was setting him up in. Sodapop nodded vigorously. He was glad to come as well; he had only been out to eat with his family only a few times before.

After they ordered, Mrs. Curtis excused herself to use the restroom. That was when it seemed to all begin.

As she got up, Ponyboy let out a small whimper and stretched his little hands as if to magically teleport her back to his side. Darry noticed the warning signs of a tantrum right before they happened. The one-year-old's voice grew from a quiet whimper to a low wail.

"No, no, no, Pony!" Soda urged him gently. "Mama's gonna be back soon!"

"Mama! Mama!" Ponyboy threw his head back and screamed. Oh, how loud it was! Darry felt as if every glass in the room was going to break from the shrill howls emitting from Pony's mouth. Mr. Curtis and Sodapop frantically tried to get the baby to calm down, but Darry knew it was fruitless. Pony was not going to stop until his mother returned. People in the other tables craned their necks to see what was going on. An old man even made a face. It was mortifying. Darry's face grew bright red, and he slid down into his seat with his eyes closed. _I want to be invisible. I want to be invisible. I want to be invisible, _he thought miserably.

The grinning waitress that had seated them was no longer grinning. Her lips were pursed into a thin, hard line, like a permanent scar. She clutched the podium she was she was standing at so tightly, her knuckles grew white; meanwhile, Pony's face was growing ever redder. Darry was half-afraid the swinging light bulbs ahead of his table were going to burst from his ear-splitting wailing.

To add to his humiliation, some of the customers even stood up and left, clenching their ears and quietly muttering about the noise. Was this ever going to end?! Then, the bathroom door squeaked open. Darry let out a sigh of relief, and realized then that he'd been holding his breath, while clenching his stomach at the same time. The other people seemed to do the same thing.

There was his mother, tucking her hair beneath her ears and walking steadily over to her table. Darry wanted to jump up and hug her. By the look on her face, it was obvious she knew what had happened. She sat down smoothly and wiped the tears off her youngest son's face. All signs of his scene were gone, except for the red on his cheeks that was slowly ebbing. Ponyboy let out a happy gurgle, and clutched her larger hands with his tiny ones. Darry breathed another sigh of relief, and only just then noticed Sodapop and his father's stunned faces. He assumed his parents would wait a little longer before they took Ponyboy out again.

**A/N I would like to give special thanks for all my first reviewers! Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review, follow, and favorite! :)**


	3. Breaking and Losing

Chapter 3

* * *

Darry- 7

Sodapop- 4

Ponyboy- 1 1/2

* * *

"What a quaint little antique store!" Mrs. Curtis gushed, stopping by the shop's front door. She and her boys were on a shopping trip to get warmer clothes for winter. They had grown a lot since the past year. Darry's jacket had holes, and Soda's sweater was so small it rided up to his belly button. He had gotten away with it until Darry started teasing him by saying that he looked like Winnie the Pooh.

"I suppose it won't take that long if we just take a quick peek, will it?" Mrs. Curtis asked, seemingly talking more to herself than to her sons.

Sodapop nodded and started giddily jumping up and down, saying, "I wanna get some toys! I wanna get some toys! I wanna get some toys!" Darry thumped him across the head. Soda laughed and almost fell over. Mrs. Curtis nodded to herself while grabbing Ponyboy's hand and ushering her older boys in, telling them to hurry.

Inside, the room was dim, and they were met with the smell of dust and mold. Ponyboy sneezed.

A grumpy-looking old woman that sat at a dusty old desk in the corner of the store snapped in a creaky old voice, "Say 'excuse me', young man!" In response, Ponyboy sneezed again. She huffed and turned away. Mrs. Curtis didn't seem to notice. She was too wrapped up in looking at the various dusty items lying around on equally dusty tablecloths.

A few minutes later, she said, "Darry, please watch your brothers. I'm going upstairs." He nodded.

"Okay. _Then _can we go?" he asked. Mrs. Curtis chuckled.

"It won't be long now," she replied. Darry was relieved he wouldn't have to deal with another one of Pony's separation tantrums. Those had luckily ebbed away after a few months. After a minute of absolute boredom and Soda running around in search of toys, Darry caught something out of the corner of his eye.

"Soda- look at that!" Darry whispered suddenly. He wasn't sure at all why he was whispering- it was just something that seemed appropriate doing.

"What?" his younger brother responded loudly. Darry pointed at a dog-eared piece of yellowed paper that was tearing drastically at the edges. A huge, green and yellow land mass was drawn carefully across it, with an incredibly detailed compass rose on the side. "Gold in the Land of Opportunity!" the title shouted.

"A treasure map," Darry whispered dramatically. Sodapop's eyes widened.

"A treasure-" CRASH! The boys jumped, then slowly turned around. Ponyboy had plopped down right in the middle of the floor with a now-broken glass vase. Darry groaned, and rushed over to his baby brother.

"Aww, Pony! Why'd you have to go and break that? Mom's gonna _kill _me!"

"Mommy's gonna _kill_ you!" Soda said dramatically.

"Kill! Kill!" Pony shrieked, and banged a few of the remnants of the vase on the floor. The old woman looked over at the scene, then hurriedly turned away. This worried Darry even more. If _she_ didn't even want to get into it, how would his mother react? She'd put him in charge of his brothers- and now look what he'd done! Mrs. Curtis probably owed more for that vase than they could afford. Darry ran a hand through his hair. Suddenly his stomach began to feel queasy.

"Ish!" Ponyboy declared, and got up on wobbly legs. He stood on his tiptoes to reach the middle shelf of a bookcase. Only this bookcase wasn't filled with books- but dozens of collectible blue willow plates! Slowly, he tentatively pulled one off and grasped it in his little hands.

"No, no, no!" Darry exclaimed. "Not this time!" He quickly took the plate from his brother right before he put it in his mouth. _Whew._ Darry breathed a sigh of relief.

"Now, Pony, you're comin' with me an' Soda to look at the treasure map now," he stated firmly. "Wait- Soda?"

His brother was gone.

"Aww, Soda!" Darry moaned.

"Aww, Soha!" Ponyboy imitated Darry's voice. Darry wildly looked around for his brother. Nowhere in sight. He wasn't upstairs- he would have heard the stairs creak. And he wasn't outside- wait- was he? Darry hurried over to the door, Ponyboy toddling on his short little legs after him. He threw open the door and called Soda's name. Nothing. Darry grimaced. His mother would be coming down any second now-

"BOO!" someone shouted.

"AAH!" Darry yelled. He put a hand over his forehead. There was Sodapop, grinning impishly from inside a nearby old cabinet.

"Haha, Darry! I scared you! I scared you!" he shouted.

"No you didn't!" Darry exclaimed, relief washing over him. He partly didn't even care.

"Psst!" the old woman whispered. Darry sighed inwardly and turned around to face her. "Boys, that old vase ain't any use to me," she said. It's actually leftover from my no-good husband's sister, Annie. How 'bout you clean up the mess, and we'll forget this whole thing ever happened?" She smiled for a moment, and for a second there she didn't look mean at all- just a little beaten down. Darry grinned.

"Alright."

**A/N Super sorry for the longish update! Once again, I'd like to give thanks to all those who have reviewed. You all get one of my imaginary brontosaurus cookies. Also, I'm at a loss of stories to read again, so if any of you have any favorite fanfictions (it can be your own) I'd really like to hear about them! And don't forget to leave a review! ;)**


	4. What I Want, Part I

Chapter Four, Part One

* * *

Darry- 9

Sodapop- 5

Ponyboy- 2

* * *

"Mama, can we _pretty please _go and look at the Christmas trees?" Five-year-old Sodapop begged excitedly. The boys were walking to school with their mother, since the weather was so nice and the air was so crisp. Ponyboy had come along too, not wanting to miss out on anything his big brothers were doing. They were nearing the rows and rows of lit Christmas trees that they passed by every day -whether walking or driving- on the way to school. Soda loved Christmas. And he wanted to see those trees.

Mrs. Curtis checked her watch.

"Alright, boys. Five minutes. Don't lose sight of Pony, okay?" Darry nodded, and took hold of his youngest brother's hand. The three padded over to the trees, dead leaves and thin sheets of ice crackling and crunching beneath their feet.

"Look, Pony, we're gonna have one of these in our house soon. See?" Soda said earnestly, gesturing to the array of green trees. Ponyboy reached out and gently stroked the lower boughs of an especially fat tree.

"Yes, yes," he said softly, looking up at each of his brothers. "Tree." He gazed up as high as he seemed he could to the top branches. "Mine."

"We don't know if that's yours yet, Pone," Darry said bluntly.

"Mine!" Ponyboy whined and tugged on its branches vigorously. "_Dawwy_!"

"How 'bout we play hide and seek, Pony? It'll be fun!" Soda broke in quickly. He was beginning to recognize when his younger brother was about to have a tantrum. They were appearing much more often now; his mother had mentioned something about 'terrible two's'. Pony's face immediately brightened.

"Okay!"

"Here- I'll count to twenty. Then you run and hide with Darry, okay?" Soda instructed.

"But-" Darry broke in. He felt much too old to be playing these kinds of games. But Soda gave him his 'fierce stare' (the one he'd been practicing) he realized it was something he had to do. His second-youngest brother obviously didn't want to continue walking to school just yet. Darry glanced around quickly to see if any of his friends were around. When he realized the coast was clear, the nine-year-old reluctantly agreed.

"Okay," Soda started. "One… two… three… four… five… six…" Ponyboy squealed and grabbed Darry's hand, pulling him forward. The older boy followed behind his littlest brother, who eventually found a space behind a tree that was just big enough to squeeze the both of them inside. There was a slight pause, and then Pony squealed once again, but this time very softly. He understood this much about hide and seek- hide, and _be quiet_! Darry could't help but grin at his eagerness towards the game. Soda used to love to play just as much, and maybe little more. Ponyboy's interests leaned more towards simple memory games and sometimes even imaginative pretend ones.

When the boys heard pine straw crunching nearby, Darry held a finger up to his lips to signal quiet. Ponyboy did the same. The footsteps ebbed away slowly, until all Darry could hear was the rushing of the wind. Pony looked at Darry and grinned, and Darry couldn't help but mirror him. He liked winning at games, even if it was just hide and seek. The sun poked out from behind the clouds and gave a little bit more warmth to the boys. Darry leaned back and closed his eyes. He could stay here for a few more minutes. It was calming...

"GOT YOU!" someone shouted, and jumped in front of the hiding brothers.

"Aaah!" Darry exclaimed, and then slowly sighed. It seemed that Soda was going to startle him all his life. That was the thing he'd always seemed to take pride in. Darry began to wonder if his brother knew they had been in that spot the whole time, and was just waiting for the perfect moment to scare him. His heart rate was beginning to slow down, but Ponyboy's definitely wasn't. It seemed that the wind was knocked out of him; he was breathing like he'd just emerged from being two minutes underwater. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes, and he began rocking back and forth, breath coming out in raged gasps.

"S-Soda… So-" -gulp- "da…" It looked like Sodapop immediately regretted his decision to startle his brothers. He knelt down to the little boy's side and hugged him tightly.

"Aww, Pony, I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Pone! I promise I'm never gonna do that again. I promise, okay?" Ponyboy nodded shakily.

"Ish, ish, ish," he whispered. 'Ish' was his either his comfort word, or meant 'Look at that!'

"Boys!" Mrs. Curtis' voice rang out from the bench nearby the spot where the trees were. "Time to go!" Darry helped Ponyboy up, and the three of them hurried to catch up with their mother, who had already begun walking.

"We're almost late!" she exclaimed. "I let you stay a little longer than planned." Soda stood on his tiptoes to reach Darry's ear.

"Tomorrow?" he whispered.

"Tomorrow," Darry agreed.

**A/N Sorry ****I keep taking too long to update! I'm also really happy at the reviews this story has gotten; you guys are amazing. Thanks so much! **


	5. What I Want, Part II

Chapter Five, Part Two

* * *

Darry- 9

Sodapop- 5

Ponyboy- 2

* * *

Darry, Sodapop, Ponyboy, and their mother began walking to school more and more often over the next two weeks. It became such a regular habit, however, that Pony seemed to have subconsciously remembered how to get there on his own. He would often lead his mother and brothers there, but only after he entreated Darry and Soda to play a few rounds of hide and seek at the Christmas tree area. Which, of course, neither of them turned down.

Christmas was just around the corner, and the Curtis' had recently got this year's tree- which was the exact one little Ponyboy had claimed weeks before. It was a fat, tall tree that's boughs reached the ceiling and brushed up against the wall at the same time. No one really minded, though, and Soda and Pony spent many hours coloring at its base and writing letters to Santa.

The days seemed to fly by faster than anyone really expected, and soon it was already Christmas Eve. Eggnog was poured, carols were sung, and cookies had been baked.

"The leftover trees at the lot are going to the chopper after Christmas," Mr. Curtis said as he sat down his glass of eggnog and scotch whiskey. "Don wanted to know if I could help out, and even said the boys could come and take a look." Mrs. Curtis nodded tucked a strand of hair away from her face.

"That'd be nice, Darrel. The boys can see how it all works." Sodapop and Ponyboy looked up in alarm from coloring on the floor. Even Darry's natural sardonic expression faltered a little.

"Chopper?" Pony questioned softly, sounding out each syllable as he spoke.

"Of course, son!" Mr. Curtis replied. "What else are we to do with all those extra Christmas trees after Christmas? It's natural and safe and good for the environment."

"Is that where we're gonna take _our _tree?" Soda asked worriedly. Somehow the idea of grounding up their Christmas tree didn't settle well in his head.

"Yes, it is," his mother answered. "People can't keep their Christmas trees all year round, you know." Pony didn't usually understand everything he was told, but right then all he could picture was his tree being chomped and sucked on by a huge red-eyed monster.

"I didn't know _that _was what we always did with them," Darry admitted. Even to him the idea of that brightly lit and decorated tree standing so tall and beautiful before him was to be ground up into sawdust just later the next week sounded a little… sad.

Mrs. Curtis took notice of her boys' varying expressions -shock, regret, worry- and said, "It's not like it'll be lost forever. The ornaments will be packed away for next year in the attic, and when Christmas rolls back around we'll get an even better tree." This seemed to be enough for Darry. He even asked to help his father grind up some of the trees. Still, Pony and Soda were not satisfied.

"Uncle David keeps his tree all year round," Soda said.

"Uncle David has a big backyard, and a big garden to keep that tree in," Mrs. Curtis said, adjusting her middle-son's collar. "Why don't you visit his tree?" she suggested after a pause. Soda contemplated the offer, then nodded.

"Okay," he said, and resumed coloring. Pony was still not contented. He eventually re-joined his brother on the floor, but looked deeply uncomfortable. After a few minutes, he spoke up.

"Potty, mommy," he said.

"Okay, baby. You know how to go potty," his mother answered. "I'll be in to help you in a minute." Ponyboy nodded quickly, hopped up, and disappeared into the next room. A couple minutes had past until Mrs. Curtis went after her son to check on him, only to come back looking deeply stricken.

"Darrel, he's gone," she whispered in panic.

Mr. Curtis stood up and stretched. "I'm sure he's hiding somewhere. You know how much the boy loves hide-and-seek."

His wife shook her head fervently. "I don't think so, Darrel. I just searched the bedrooms. And- and why would he hide without telling his brothers? Wouldn't he know they would't know where to find him if he didn't tell them where he was?"

Mr. Curtis winked and said, "This'll get him to come out." He went on to yell in a very strict voice that if Ponyboy didn't come out, he'd get no more cookies, and coal for Christmas the next day. Nothing. No response. After a few minutes, he called to his son again, only this time telling him to come out now, and he meant it. The family waited in silence for a minute or so, but still, Pony did not show up. Now Mr. Curtis himself was growing worried.

"I'm sure he's around here somewhere," he said slowly. "But just in case, get me a flashlight. I'm going to search outside." His wife hurried out behind him, handing him a flashlight, followed by Darry and Sodapop. Twenty minutes later, Ponyboy was still not found. Mr. Curtis pressed his lips into a hard line, and instructed his wife and children to keep looking and calling his name, while he called the police. Mrs. Curtis cupped her hand over her mouth and blinked back tears.

"What if we can't find 'im?" Soda questioned softly. Darry shook his head, but said nothing. "He loved hide-and-seek," Soda said mournfully. "I wish we played with him more at the lot."

"Don't talk like that!" Darry snapped. Then, his face lit up like a lightbulb. "Wait- the lot! Soda- don't you get it? Pony's probably run away to the lot to see the trees again before they get chopped!"

"Oh, Darry, ya think so?" Soda exclaimed. "Wait, but if that's really what he was thinkin', why didn't he just go tomorrow, or the next day?"

"He's three. I really don't think he'd have thought about that. But, who cares? Let's tell Mom!" Darry exclaimed. Soda nodded eagerly and ran to his mother, Darry following closely behind, excitedly explaining all he had just heard in his loudest voice as he ran. Mrs. Curtis, now somewhat relieved, nodded.

"Thank God. We need to hurry, though, I'm sure it's closing soon," she said, grabbing both of her sons' hands tightly. They made it to the lot in record time (with the car, of course) just as a man closed the chain-link fence gates.

"Wait- please!" Mrs. Curtis yelled. The man turned around, scowling.

"Can't you see we're closing?" he grumbled. "What do you want? I want to go home."

"We're sorry, sir, really. But we think my little brother might've wandered over here to say goodbye to the trees. Can we see if he's there?" Darry asked urgently. The man scrunched up his face in confusion.

"Huh- what? Say goodbye to the…? Okay, look here. Tree shopping is over. We're closed. You'd do best to go home. If you want a tree, go down to the corner of Apache street, okay?"

"What I want," Mrs. Curtis said shakily, "is my son. _Please _let us in."

"Come on, mister, you don't wanna little kid to freeze to death because of you, huh?" Soda interjected angrily.

"What I _don't_ want is to be here right now. Come on, the boss said close at 9:30. No exceptions. I _need _this job, alright?" Everyone started arguing, which soon turned into yelling, which eventually turned into screaming. No one noticed a little figure emerge from a rip in the chain-link fence.

"Oh!" Mrs. Curtis exclaimed, causing a break in the scene. Everyone looked down, to see Ponyboy tugging on his mother's coat.

"I say 'bye-bye'," he whispered.

"Oh, baby!" his mother sobbed, scooping up her youngest son and holding him up to her chest. "My sweet, sweet baby," she murmured as she rocked him back and forth. Darry turned around to say something smart to the man, but he was gone. In the distance, he heard hs tires squealing across the road.

**A/N I know they should have told Mr. Curtis where they were going, but I like to think he was busy and they didn't have enough time. Please review!**


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